Decolonizing Health Care: AbSPORU Virtual Institute 2020 Video Abstract

Decolonizing Health Care: Indigenous Digital Storytelling as Pedagogical Tool for Cultural Safety in Health Care Settings. Abstract presentation (general presentation category) at the AbSPORU Virtual Institute 2020. Background Indigenous women’s health stories are complex due to their intersecting identities of race and gender, their experiences of colonialism, and social determinants of health. All of these factors can make it challenging for them to access culturally appropriate healthcare. Health care providers often fail to create an environment of cultural safety, defined as an outcome where Indigenous peoples feel respected and safe from racism and discrimination when they interact with the health care system. Moreover, health care providers may not understand the holistic health needs necessary to support Indigenous peoples, and the systemic racism within the health-care system continues to contribute to health inequity and reinforces disparities. Patient Engagement From May to June 2019 I co-created two digital health stories with Indigenous women from the Women Warriors programs in Lloydminster and Onion Lake Cree Nation (OLCN), on the border of Alberta and Saskatchewan. I relocated to Yellowknife for the months of July and August and co-created three digital stories with Indigenous women there. I conceived of this project as community-based, participatory action research carried out through the lens of Indigenous feminism, which centers the participant as the person most knowledgeable about their own experiences. I incorporated an integrated knowledge translation plan that allowed the participants to share ideas and input about how to disseminate the research and their digital stories to the community. Method Indigenous digital storytelling within the framework of Indigenous research methodology, allows Indigenous women to share their health stories in a safe and respectful context. This decolonizing methodology allows for self-representation that challenges stereotypes and allows Indigenous communities to prioritize their own social and community needs and to protect their identities and cultural values in the process. Furthermore, it is essential to the decolonization process that Indigenous people speak with our own voices about our histories, culture, and experiences. Results There was a feeling of empowerment by the storytellers that identified their own health care providers in the audience because the participants were knowledge sharing in colonial spaces and speaking truth to power. It allowed the participants to address the power differentials between doctor and patient and communicate their health needs in a respectful way. Results Indigenous women’s health stories can serve as a pedagogical tool to teach cultural safety in health care settings. Indigenous digital health stories inform solutions that are community-driven, culturally relevant to Indigenous peoples and based specifically in local knowledge. Indigenous women’s digital health stories fill a gap in research on how health care providers can incorporate Indigenous knowledge and healing practices into patient care plans so that Indigenous women feel respected and can build safe health care relationships. These stories are an innovative way to decolonize health care, build relationships and trust with health care providers, and seek collaborative solutions to reconciliation in healthcare. Conclusion The most important aspect of this research has been the formation of empathetic connections between health care providers and Indigenous women’s stories of cultural genocide such as the forced removal of Indigenous children to residential schools, and how it manifested in Indigenous peoples’ physical, spiritual, mental and emotional health. Indigenous women’s health stories are a form of reconciliation in healthcare because they assist medical professionals in understanding their own positionality and reflect on the ways they may disrupt the systemic racism embedded in our institutions. SUBSCRIBE, LIKE & COMMENT ================================ Please comment and share your decolonizing writing suggestions and insights. Please support this content with a thumbs-up! Thank you for your support! Please subscribe for more interviews about decolonizing writing and research. SOCIAL =============================== Website: https://www.womenwarriors.club Twitter:   / womenwarriorsab   Instagram:   / shelleywiart   Facebook:   / womenwarriorslloyd  . Medium:   / womenwarriors  . Email: [email protected] © 2021 Women Warriors - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Shelley Wiart is the owner of all common law and statutory trademark rights in the word mark WOMEN WARRIORS, and the logo marks.